“The sons of Bhagwandas received the rewards of their per­fidious deeds, having their heads crushed under the feet of my elephants, and being thus despatched to the hell prepared for them.”*

He ordered a thief to be trampled to death by an elephant; and, at the culprit's request, allowed him instead to fight with the elephant. Upon being successful, he was rewarded; but for subse­quently making his escape, he was hanged.*

“The King commanded one of his brother's sons to touch a lion on the head. But he refused it, being afraid; on which the King desired his youngest son to touch the lion, which he did, without receiving any harm. On this the King commanded his nephew to be taken to prison, whence he is never likely again to be released.”*

“In the most inaccessible parts of Gujarat lived a race of men, known by the name of Koolies, who exercised perpetual depreda­tions and cruelties upon the inhabitants of the open and cultivated districts. The enormities of these people had lately risen to an extraordinary height, when Jahángír issued a sanguinary order for the utter extirpation of the race. Many were slaughtered; the rest hunted to their mountains and deserts.”*

“Since that time he has caused all the adherents of his son to be put to cruel deaths. While I was at his Court I have seen him do many cruel deeds. Five times a week he orders some of his bravest elephants to fight in his presence, during which men are often killed or grievously wounded by the elephants. If any one be sore hurt, though he might very well chance to recover, he causes him to be thrown into the river, saying, ‘Despatch him, for as long as he lives he will continually curse me; wherefore it is better that he die presently.’ He delights to see men executed and torn in pieces by elephants.”*

“This day a gentlewoman was taken in the King's house in some improper act with an eunuch, when another animal of the same kind, who loved her, slew her paramour. The poor woman was set up to the armpits in the ground, with the earth hard rammed round her; being condemned to remain there three days and two nights in that situation, without sustenance, her head and arms being exposed to the violence of the sun. If she survived, she was then to be pardoned. The eunuch was condemned to the elephants.”*

“Whether owing to ill advice, wine, or some fault of his nature, he often issued very cruel orders. Happening to catch an eunuch kissing one of his women whom he had relinquished, he sentenced the lady to be put into the earth, with only her head left above ground, exposed to the burning rays of the sun, and the eunuch to be cut in pieces before her face.”*

“The King, however, insisted upon it, and the poor fellow was torn in pieces. Not yet satisfied, but desirous to see more sport, the King sent for ten of his horsemen, who were that night on guard, whom he commanded, one after the other, to buffet with the lion. They were all grievously wounded, and three of them lost their lives. The King continued three months in this cruel humour; in which time, merely for his pleasure, many men lost their lives, and many were grievously wounded.”*

“The 9th of August a band of one hundred robbers were brought in chains before the Great Mogul. Without any ceremony of trial, he ordered them to be carried away for execution, their chief being ordered to be torn in pieces by dogs. The prisoners were sent for execution to several quarters of the city, and executed in the streets. Close by my house the chief was torn in pieces by twelve dogs; and thirteen of his fellows, having their hands and feet tied together, had their necks cut by a sword, yet not quite through, and their naked and bloody bodies were left to corrupt in the streets.”*

“About four thousand were made prisoners, all of whom, as an example to other wretches who might be disposed to follow in their steps, were, by my command, trampled to death by elephants.”*

“Seffy sent him forty-four persons who had been active in the late commotions in Gujárat, two of whom were trampled to death by elephants, and the rest committed to prison.”*

“He sometimes sees, with too much delight in blood, executions performed on offenders by his elephants. Illi meruere, sed quid tu ut adesses?”*

“I determined that the perpetrator of this horrible villany should be immediately led to the great plain, where, as an awful example, he was torn piece-meal with red-hot pincers.”*

“One of his greatest pleasures was, putting to the test the con­stancy of the Persians newly arrived at his Court. He commonly carried in his girdle a stile, the point of which was particularly acute, with which he pierced the ear of the new comer, at a moment when he was quite unprepared for such a salutation. By his outcries, or by his silence, that is to say, by the impatience or the tranquil resolution which he manifested under the infliction of pain, he formed his opinion of the courage of the Persian; and he measured his favours by the result of his experiment.”*

“On the banks of the Chenab the Emperor received from Zuffer Khán the head of the rebel Ahdad, which was ordered to be placed over the principal gate of Lahoor.”*

“One of the King's sons, Sultan Shariar, a boy of seven years old, was called by him one day when I was there. Because he had not said that he would go with all his heart along with his Majesty, he was sore beaten by the King, yet did not cry… On this his father struck him again, and taking a bodkin, thrust it through his cheek; yet he would not cry, though he bled much.”*

“Some nobles that were near his person he caused to be whipped in his presence, receiving 130 stripes with a most terrible instrument of torture, having, at the ends of four cords, irons like spur-rowels, so that every stroke made four wounds. When they lay for dead, he commanded the standers-by to spurn them with their feet, and the door-keepers to break their staves upon them. Thus, cruelly mangled and bruised, they were carried away, one of them dying on the spot.”*

“The next morning Khusro was brought before his father, with a chain fastened from his left hand to his left foot, according to the laws of Chinghez Khan. On the right hand of the Prince stood Hassan Beg, and on his left Abdulraheem. Khusro trembled and wept. He was ordered into confinement; but the companions of his rebellion were put to death with cruel torments. Hassan Beg was sewed up in a raw hide of an ox, and Abdulraheem in that of an ass, and both were led about the town on asses, with their faces towards the tail. The ??x's hide became so dry and contracted, that before the evening Hassan Beg was suffocated; but the ass's hide being continually moistened with water by the friends of Abdulra-heem, he survived the punishment, and afterwards obtained the Emperor's pardon. From the garden of Kamran to the city of Lahoor, two rows of stakes were fixed in the ground, upon which the other rebels were impaled alive; and the unhappy Khusro, mounted on an elephant, was conducted between the ranks of these miserable sufferers.”*

“The story of Seif Alla remains as a monument of his savage justice. The sister of the favourite Sultana had a son by her husband Ibrahim, the Suba of Bengal, who, from his tender years, had been brought up at Court by the Empress, who, having no sons by Jahángír, adopted Seif Alla for her own. The Emperor was fond of the boy; he even often seated him upon his throne. At twelve years of age Alla returned to his father in Bengal. Jahángír gave him a letter to the Suba, with orders to appoint him governor of Burdwan. Alla, after having resided in his government some years, had the misfortune, when he was one day riding on an elephant through the street, to tread by accident a child to death.^{* *} Alla obeyed the Imperial command; but he knew not the inten­tions of Jahángír, which that prince had locked up in his own breast. The youth encamped with his retinue, the night of his arrival, on the opposite bank of the river; and sent a messenger to announce his coming to the Emperor. Jahángír gave orders for one of his elephants of state to be ready by the dawn of day; and he at the same time directed the parents of the child to attend. He himself was up before it was light, and, having crossed the river, he came to the camp of Alla, and commanded him to be bound. The parents were mounted upon the elephant, and the Emperor ordered the driver to tread the unfortunate young man to death. But the driver, afraid of the resentment of the Sultana, passed over him several times, without giving the elephant the necessary direc­tions. The Emperor, however, by his threats, obliged him at last to execute his orders.”*